Hierarchical memory systems include layers of memory such that one layer may be faster and smaller than another layer, which may be slower and larger. For example, Random Access Memory (RAM) is known to have register addressing to enable fast direct memory access for data retrieval. In contrast, hard disk drives (HDDs) are electro-magnetic storage devices that require spinning platters to find the correct location on a platter to retrieve data. The seek time to find data stored on a hard disk drive is known to be much longer than the seek time of random access memory.
Accordingly, data retrieval that avoids performing seeks on the hard disk drive may improve overall storage system response time.